CBG to expand responsible credit access for PWD-owned businesses – Managing Director

Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) has launched a dedicated loan initiative for persons with disabilities, seeking to move financial inclusion beyond bank-account ownership towards sustainable enterprise development and economic participation. The CBG PWD Inclusion Loan Initiative was unveiled at the bank’s Disability Conference held at the Du Bois Centre, Cantonments, on Friday, September 11, with senior management and the Korklu Foundation calling for a shift from viewing persons with disabilities as recipients of charity to recognising them as entrepreneurs and economic actors. Deputy Managing Director of CBG, Sheila Azuntaba, said financial inclusion should connect people to the knowledge, capital and markets required to build sustainable livelihoods.

She said the initiative represented the next stage of CBG’s engagement with PWD entrepreneurs, combining access to finance with financial literacy and responsible business management. “Opening an account is an important beginning, but inclusion becomes meaningful when that account connects a person to knowledge, finance, markets, and the confidence to build a sustainable livelihood,” she said. Ms Azuntaba said the beneficiaries had been selected for their enterprise commitment and potential to grow, rather than being defined by their disabilities.

She stressed that financial literacy was central to the programme because capital alone could not guarantee the success of a business. According to her, sustainable growth required entrepreneurs to combine access to finance with sound decisions, discipline and an understanding of how present financial choices could affect future opportunities. The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Korklu Foundation, whose Founder, Dorcas Naa Korklu Afotey, said the initiative was intended to empower PWDs to strengthen their businesses, improve their livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to their families and communities.

Ms Afotey said disability should never be a barrier to opportunity and commended CBG for partnering with the foundation to promote genuine financial inclusion and economic empowerment. She urged beneficiaries to manage the loans responsibly and use the funds to expand their businesses. The initiative builds on CBG’s earlier PWD Financial Inclusion Programme, under which 119 participants were onboarded.

The bank funded the minimum opening… Deputy Managing Director of Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG), Sheila Azuntaba, says the bank plans to expand its pilot financial inclusion initiative for persons with disabilities across the country, stressing the need to move PWD support beyond grants towards sustainable access to finance. Ms Azuntaba made the remarks on the sidelines of CBG’s Disability Conference at the Du Bois Centre, Cantonments, on Friday, September 11.

She described the event as one that was particularly important to CBG, saying the bank considered financial inclusion a basic human right that should extend to persons living with disabilities. “Today’s event is actually one of the events that’s very dear to our hearts,” she said. According to Ms Azuntaba, the initiative was developed from CBG’s recognition that financial inclusion must reach people who lack access to basic financial services and financial literacy, both in Accra and across the country.